Range Description

Cape Fur Seals haul out along the mainland and coastal islands of southwestern and southern Africa, from Ilha dos Tigres in Angola to Algoa Bay in South Africa (Kirkman et al. 2007). Vagrants have been sighted on the coasts of Gabon (Thibault 1999) and the Prince Edward Islands (Kerley 1983). Australian Fur Seals breed on islands of the Bass Strait (Warnecke 1995) but range the waters off the coasts of South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales (Pemberton and Gales 2004). While both subspecies do not travel far from their continental shelves, Cape Fur Seals have been recorded up to 220 km offshore (Shaughnessy 1979).